Gaming machines, such as slot machines, video poker machines, and the like, have been a cornerstone of the gaming industry for several years. Generally, the popularity of such machines with players is dependent on the likelihood (or perceived likelihood) of winning money at the machine and the intrinsic entertainment value of the machine relative to other available gaming options. Where the available gaming options include a number of competing machines and the expectation of winning each machine is roughly the same (or believed to be the same), players are most likely to be attracted to the most entertaining and exciting of the machines.
Consequently, shrewd operators strive to employ the most entertaining and exciting machines available because such machines attract frequent play and, hence, increase profitability to the operator. In the competitive gaming machine industry, there is a continuing need for gaming machine manufacturers to produce new types of games, or enhancements to existing games, which will attract frequent play by enhancing the entertainment value and excitement associated with the game.
One concept that has been successfully employed to enhance the entertainment value of a game is that of a “bonus” game which may be played in conjunction with a “basic” game. The bonus game may comprise any type of game, either similar to or completely different from the basic game, and is entered upon the occurrence of a selected event or outcome of the basic game. Such a bonus game produces a significantly higher level of player excitement than the basic game because it provides a greater expectation of winning than the basic game.
Another concept that has been employed is the use of a progressive jackpot. In the gaming industry, a “progressive” involves collecting coin-in data from participating gaming device(s) (e.g., slot machines), contributing a percentage of that coin-in data to a jackpot amount, and awarding that jackpot amount to a player upon the occurrence of a certain jackpot-won event. The percentage of the coin-in is determined prior to any result being achieved and is independent of any result. A jackpot-won event typically occurs when a “progressive winning position” is achieved at a participating gaming device. If the gaming device is a slot machine, a progressive winning position may, for example, correspond to alignment of progressive jackpot reel symbols along a certain payline. The initial progressive jackpot is a predetermined minimum amount. That jackpot amount, however, progressively increases as players continue to play the gaming machine without winning the jackpot. Further, when several gaming machines are linked together such that several players at several gaming machines compete for the same jackpot, the jackpot progressively increases at a much faster rate, which leads to further player excitement.
In current basic games, the player is usually given a single opportunity to achieve entry to the bonus game. For example, if the player achieves less than a threshold number of bonus symbols required to achieve entry to the bonus game, the player typically has to place another bet and play the basic game from the beginning to try again to achieve the threshold number of bonus symbols. However, in the event that the player continues to fail to achieve the bonus, or comes tantalizing close to achieving the bonus (e.g., by achieving one less than the required number of bonus symbols), the player may become bored and move on to a different game. There are also gaming machines that change a payback percentage during a bonus game based on the amount of an initial wager, but not the player's chances of achieving a bonus. Current basic games also often give the player a predetermined amount of an item (e.g., five free spins) upon achievement of the bonus, instead of increasing the amount of the items available to the player when the player has made a second wager.
Thus, there is a need to allow a player to make an additional wager prior to playing the basic game, in exchange for an additional opportunity to achieve a bonus while in the middle of the basic game. This way, the player can achieve a portion of what is required to initiate the bonus, and then get a second chance to achieve the rest of the minimum required bonus combination. Wagering games need to include additional features that will maintain the player's interest and enhance entertainment. The present invention is directed to satisfying this and other needs.